Recruitment Co-ordinator - Talent Programmes Team Review

I am the Recruitment co-ordinator for the Talent Programmes Team in HR. My role involves leading a number of projects a year, including our Boots360 Careers Event which is an open evening to showcase our apprenticeship to potential candidates, parents, teachers and career advisors. I also lead the Work Inspiration project, which is a work experience programme which involves 100+ students coming in to our Support Office over 2 weeks to gain valuable work experience and skills for when they apply for jobs in the future. My job role also includes organising all of our event associated with the surrounding East Midlands schools, including career evevnings, presentations and mock interview sessions.

Whilst on my apprenticeship I have gained an NVQ and BTEC in Business Administration. This involved recorded discussions with my training provider and also a number of written assingments. I have also completed my Healthcare Advisor qualification which now means I am qualified to serve patients from behind the Healthcare counter in our stores. Whilst on my apprenticeship I have also learnt valuable presentation and organisation skills, as well as time management.

I have really enjoyed my time on my apprenticeship programme. The team I am in are really friendly and supportive of me. They are very understanding of the time I have set aside to complete my college work. They always put time aside to explain new things to me and are never to busy to provide me with any support I need. I feel my apprenticeship has met my expectations and has provided me with lots of different experiences that I can take with me when looking for a job at the end of my apprenticeship.

I feel very valued by Boots and my team. Boots are very good at recognising colleagues for the hard work and effort they put in to their job. We have weekly HR meetings as a function where colleagues and manager can give a shout out to a colleague that they would like to thank for various reasons in the last week. My manager is also very good at informing the leadership teams of the work I have completed so that different people are aware of the work I do. My manager and my team also look out for new projects for me to get involved with to expose me to different areas of HR to broaden my knowledge about the function.

We had a good induction to the programme before starting. We had a full day together as a cohort to get to know more about the programme and what woudl be involved. The support from the apprenticehsip manager is great and is always open for a chat if I have any questions regarding anything to do with the apprenticeship. She has also organised a number of development session for us as a cohort e.g coaching. We also went on a Self Experiential trip as a cohort where we took part in a number of different exercises to understand more about what kind of worker we are and our values. This gave us a great chance to get to know one another as well outside of the work place, which was very valuable. My manager delegates me work on a daily/weekly basis however she/ and the rest of my team are always aware of the other work I have on at the same time to make sure I am able to manage my time appropriately.

My training advisor was always supportive if I ever need to speak to her about anything regarding my college work. Although she isn't always in the office she was always available via email or telephone which made it easier to ask her quick questions if I was unsure of anything. If I ever had questions regarding my college work she would pop time in my diary to explain things to me to ensure I understood what I needed to do.

My manager and my team have always been very supportive of me. Although I lead a couple of projects they are always very understanding that it is the first time I have done this, so they are always available to point me in the right direction e.g. contacts to get in touch with or previous project plans to look at to understand how things have been done in the past. They are also very open for me to try new things as well to make things a little different, and put my own spin on something. If I have any problems, my manager and my team are always around and open for me to talk to them and discuss what I should do next. Their general attitude towards me has always been very pleasant and they are always supportive and around to offer advise or help if I should need it.

The salary for my apprenticeship has been fine. However I do think we should have had some sort of increase over the two years, just as a little motivation, as I am aware other companies do this. The current salary is fine however I do live at home still and I am not sure how well I would get by if I owned my house and had different bill etc. to pay for on a monthly basis. At the moment I am saving for a house and I am aware that I will need a salary increase to be able to get by in the way I intend to. This is one of the main reasons I am looking for a promotion at the end of my apprenticeship.

Boots have a number of different opportunities outside of the work place. These can differ between Awards Nights for different awards we are nominated for which I attended earlier this year. Furthermore, Boots are very focused around the different CSR projects that colleagues can get involved with e.g. MacMillan, Children In Need and our own charity the Benevolent Fund. We have a very dedicated CSR team who are always informing colleagues of different initiatives that we can get involved with outside the work place. We also have little things such as a pilates class that is open to anyone, which is just another little thing for colleagues to take part in and enjoy, and get to know different colleagues around the business. Furthermore, Boots are very open for teams to go on away days out of the business every so often to reconnect as a team and bond, or lunches out as a chance to get to each other outside of the business which I think is a great opportunity for the many different teams we have.

Yes

Boots is a great place to work as they really care about their colleagues and ensuring everyone is happy in the work place. They are very considerate of what colleagues have to say, they send out a big survey each year to all colleagues both in the support office and out in stores to listen and read what colleagues have to say and hear about how they are feeling. The leadership teams then look at everyone's anonymous responses to spot similar themes that are coming through and planning what they can do about this. There are so many opportunities here at Boots and it is a great place to be able to try new things and speak to different people across the business to spot potential opportunities for yourself, everyone is always happy to talk to you and answer any questions you have. We also have a number of benefits which are great, e.g. discount card and the Benefits Box which offers a number of different benefits to all colleagues.

Show your passion and what you value. Understand the Boots values and missions before applying to ensure you really understand what we stand for as a company. It is so important to check that Boots is right for you and not just the other way around. During an interview do not be afraid to shout about what you are great at, it is your time to shine. Ensure you understand your own development areas, because everyone has them, and put across how you want to work on those development areas.